But who is leading, and who is doing the trusting? Little, big, bird or balloonist?
And how many times have we all heard that particular statement, only to find out they didn’t know where they were going. Sometimes that ends in disaster, but sometimes it results in a fantastic adventure!
All I know is there are multiple possible tales to be told from this illustration. And that kind of excites me!
Drawn with a Tombow Fudenosuke pen on paper. Colour added using Clip Studio Paint. Tradigital art.
Where has this monstrous mushroom been? And why has the raven accompanied him? The sun has set on the day, and the stars twinkle in an alien sky. Yet the mushroom has managed to acquire a cute heart balloon and a rainbow lollipop, and a bit of a sickly complexion too. Where in the galaxy have these companions been and what have they been up to?
I’m sure there’s a story to tell, but if there is, these unlikely companions are keeping it to themselves… for now. And if I know the tale, and I’m not saying I do, then I will have been sworn to secrecy too!
I could be accused of having too much fun with my creepy cuties (Kreepy Kuties?). Does that bother me? Not one tiny bit! I’m enjoying drawing, exploring a new kind of style to add to my toolbox, and just plain indulging myself in some creepy, crazy, cute, critter-y, klutzy monsters!
I finally turned to digital art to colour in my pen drawing. What a sigh of relief I gave as I did so. Yes, it’s fun to add colour with traditional media, to a degree in my case. But it’s so much more satisfying for me to add colour and texture digitally.
Traditional pen drawing on paper combined with the addition of digital colour makes it tradigital art!
You can tell I love autumn! I just couldn’t resist another drawing with pumpkins and assorted autumnal motifs. In the video accompanying this picture, I get all the drawing done and start adding colour. This photo is of the completed drawing so far. There’s plenty of space for some more autumnal goodies!
As I worked on some warm, grey paper (‘Clay’ Toned Paper from Fabriano), the colours are muted and feel a bit washed out. Usually, Inktense pencils with a light wash of water are bright and vibrant, but the grey tones mute them somewhat. But I like that. It gives a vintage and nostalgic air to the artwork.
From time to time, I can circle back to drawing styles that I’ve not done for a long time. This kind of drawing, which has an etched ‘feel’ to it, is an example of something I’ve not done for what seems an age. I am, however, enjoying it very much. Exploring working on toned paper with various colouring media is fascinating for sure.
Video to go with the variations on the right.
Video to go with the flowers and variation on the left.
It’s blessedly cooler this morning as I write this blog. There’s been a little rain, but not enough to help out nature. We have the potential of thunderstorms and torrential rain at some point today. I do hope we get some thunderstorms – I love nature’s fireworks and drama! Rain is fine, but torrential rain can cause huge problems.
Anyhoo, to arty things. There are two drawings in the photo. I completed the one on the right on Sunday and filmed a video tutorial. It explores a new fragment shared on day one of Zentangle Project Pack 18. It’s always fun to explore patterns; I get to understand the pattern more and discover variations.
One of those variations came out in my sketchbook on Sunday evening. I used the ideas of the fragment as a way of filling space. What resulted looked a lot like the tangle pattern Diva Dance. you can see this in the drawing to the right in the image above.
It never ceases to amaze me how patterns can segue one into another as variations are explored. Everything, even tangle patterns, is interconnected and related by not that many degrees of variation!
Of course, I filmed the drawing of the flower and tangle pattern tile as a video tutorial. Hopefully, slowly and clearly enough that it’s easy to draw along with me. I hope you give it a go!
I absolutely love drawing Doodleworlds style colouring pages/colouring templates.
The cute critters, the whimsical world where landscapes have their own rules and birds can have ridiculously long legs and flowers can float without stems or leaves. Planets can be cute critters too. There are flowers, foliage, mushrooms, bottles, stars, moon stars, crystals, rocks, birds … well some of my favourite things to draw!
Oh, and a cupcake. Cake is always welcome, especially with a glacé cherry on top. And ice cream, though I think all the ice cream has been eaten by that happy bunch of critters in the bottom right, hence none of it in the picture! I think the grumpy one missed out on it.
I say this so often, but I really do believe that we all need a lot of whimsy in our lives as a break from the things going on in the news. I avoid the news as much as possible as it upsets and distresses me way too much. Just the headlines are enough for me. That also means more time to draw!
This was drawn with a fudenosuke pen on paper. Colour added digitally in Clip Studio Paint.
Each week during the pandemic I’ve drawn a colouring page for the members of Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.
Creativity of any kind, including colouring, is a great way to take a break from life’s stresses and strains and to relax and de-stress. I absolutely love to see the creativity with which folks add colour to my colouring templates and bring them to life!
Oh, if you like this Doodleworlds style of template that I often draw, then I do have a colouring book available on Amazon called “Doodleworlds”. If you prefer a pdf file that you can download and print, then this is available from my Etsy shop.
It’s Thursday, so it’s time for another coloring template / coloring page for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.
This week it’s a cute, whimsical and silly Doodleworlds design. Oddly, there’s not a skull in sight! Still, it’s a lovely mood booster, and I need that at the moment.
There’s also a new color palette challenge for August in the group – bright, cheerful and tropical colours. I used the palette to partially add colour to the template.
The template was drawn on A4 Canson Imagine mixed media paper. I added the colour digitally using Clip Studio Paint.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the template is coloured by group members, even using a limited color palette. It’s always great to see how people approach the template differently.
It’s funny how colours seem just right one day, and the next day I wonder what on earth I was thinking at the time.
Yesterday’s mandala, with it’s kind of yellow-brown background just doesn’t seem ‘right’ today.
I often mention about how I feel I really struggle with colour at times, but feel much better if I stick with simple color palettes, even monochrome ones, more or less.
So, this morning I wanted to draw a mandala, as is so often the case. They give me a chance to practice drawing digitally and using pattern and texture within them too.
The drawing was just fine and dandy, nearly always a pleasurable experience and I end up with a design I like well enough.
Then, there’s the coloured background. Today I wanted a soft pink colour. I like the colour I’ve chosen. Black lineart would look start on it, to my mind, but a soft, warm, cream was just perfect. It looks almost like lace.
And I can breathe a sigh of relief as my faith in my colour sense is restored somewhat. Monochrome is the way to go, unless it’s coloring templates. Though perhaps I should try a monochrome colour scheme for them, or at least analogous colours with a pop of complementary here and there. I’ll see what happens.
For the rest of my day, I’m going to be gathering sketches of ideas and elements for the coloring book I’m working on, and creating a mandala has got me somewhat in the right frame of mind to do this.
Happy Hallowe’en to you all!
My favourite day of the year in my favourite season. I shall be observing it in my own way later on.
However you celebrate this day, as usual or changed as a result of the pandemic, have fun, be safe and be well and may your ancestors watch safely over you all.
It was an All Hallows’ Eve tradition in the UK to lay out places at the dinner table for those who had passed away during the previous 12 months as their one last meal before they finally go to the world of spirit, heaven, or whatever else you may call it. It was this night as it was believed that the veil ‘twixt the living and the dead was at its thinnest and loved ones could return to spend time here on Earth with their families.
This year, sadly, too many have done so as a result Covid-19, which has swept around the world taking far too many needlessly. While we no longer lay places for those who have passed, we can take time to honour their memory, their presence in our lives, how important they were and continue to be to us.
I actually finished colouring in one of my templates for this day. It has turned out both dark and colourful, and cutely spooky. While colouring today, I have been listening to a Hallowe’en playlist on Spotify.
This morning’s warm-up art is another abstract digital painting inspired by patterns in rocks and strata.
It’s a very soothing process for me to create art like this, even though it lacks the intricacy and detail of my more usual ‘entangled’ style. Simplifying and stylisation is a feature of my entangled art; this artwork takes those processes a few steps further along.
I started the day sketching some simplified patterns taken from geology in general. I scanned them in and chose one to turn into a painting.
Layer by layer, I added colour and texture, choosing earthy colours. I paid attention to shadow and highlight making sure that there’s an illusion of dimesion in the painting.
I’m still experimenting with this style of digital painting. In this one, I think I’ve chosen one or two colours too many, and a couple of them are a bit brighter than the others which makes them stand out more.
I also need to work with different color palettes, limiting the colours to produce a cohesive design.
The ragged edges created by the brush texture I used make the layers look a bit like torn paper. However, I would like to try a smoother edge in future experiments.
It’s been a nice way to spend three or so hours this morning. It’s now time for me to breakfast!
This week’s template for the Angela Porter Coloring Fans facebook group is another Hallowe’en themed one, the last one this year.
I always have a lot of fun with Hallowe’en themed designs, and this one is no exception. Lots of skulls, potion bottles, eyeballs, ghosts, monsters, pumpkins, toadstools, gravestones, and more!
It’s taken me several hours to colour in just a portion of the design. I’m going to try to finish this one off in time for Hallowe’en.
Drawn with pen on paper, digitally coloured.
The template is available for members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group – free to join, and free to download. Terms and conditions for use apply.
Art is the Adventure 